Introduction: Depression is associated with activation of innate immune response leading to oxidative damage. The 8-isoprostanes and 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) are biomarkers of oxidative damage to lipids and Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA), respectively. They have been independently linked to depression. Aim: To study the oxidative stress markers (8-Isoprostanes and 8-OHdG) in subjects with major depression. Materials and Methods: In this observational case-control study 42 cases of depression, 13-25 years of age were recruited from Psychiatry Out Patient Department (OPD) at a tertiary-care hospital in Delhi, India, along with 42 healthy controls. They were assessed clinically and using psychometric evaluation scores, Beck’s Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D). All 42 subjects were on medication with antidepressants {33/42 with Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) 8/42 with Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCA) and 1/42 on a combination of both}. Routine laboratory investigations were done. Plasma 8-Isoprostane and serum 8-OHdG concentrations were measured in both cases and controls. The results obtained were analysed using relevant statistical tests on STATA version 11 (StataCorp, 2009). Results: Clinically, all patients had moderate to severe depression. BDI-II and HAM-D scores were raised in all cases as compared to the controls (28.81±5.60 vs 1.62±1.59 for BDI and 20.88±4.67 vs 1.33±1.43 for HAM-D, respectively). The concentration (in depressed vs controls) of plasma 8-Isoprostane (107.70±54.48 pg/mL vs 77.78±60.15 pg/mL) and serum 8-OHdG (2103.03±154 pg/mL vs 2017±164.69 pg/mL) were significantly elevated (p-value <0.05). Though elevated in patients belonging to both genders, showed significant increase of 8-Isoprostane only in females and 8-OHdG only in males as compared to their healthy controls. No correlation of the levels of any of two markers was seen with clinical severity of depression of patients as assessed by BDI. Conclusion: Evidence of oxidative stress to lipids and DNA are present in the peripheral blood. These can be explored further in establishing the biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of depression.
Socioeconomic Status in Relation to the Risk of Ovarian Cancer in African-American Women: A Population-Based Case-Control Study
